Why are toilet brushes white? And some Turkish Delights...

What's up with that? Seriously, why are they more commonly white than a darker colour? Every time I travel, I always notice how not white the white toilet brushes are…I don’t care how clean the bathroom is, with that thing hanging about, it’s just nasty! Because of this, I’ve made it a point of owning a black toilet brush. 

I am currently in Kusadasi, Turkey. Spring break at MIS began on Friday, March 29th and my mother and aunt came from Nova Scotia to visit and explore some new places with me for the holidays. We flew from Munich to Istanbul and then stayed two nights in the continental border city - seeing the sights and exploring the culture. This is my first time in Turkey, my mom's first time in Asia and my aunt's first time outside of North America - needless to say, it's been a new and unique experience for all of us. Because I was travelling with my two inexperienced companions, I arranged everything with a tour company - Mediterra Holidays - to ensure a thoughtless process for me (and to omit any blame if problems arise :P). This also creates a different kind of travel experience for me as I might book one or two tours here and there but I always arrange my own hotels and transportation.

So, Turkey is a beautiful country and I've enjoyed everything we've seen so far. In Istanbul, we visited the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar, a luxury carpet shop and Rustern Pasha Mosque (a community mosque as opposed to the above mentioned imperial mosques) on our first day. On the second day, we did a Bosphorous River Cruise and checked out the Spice Market before catching a flight to Kayseri in the evening. We stayed at a fantastic boutique hotel right in the Old Town and it was 5-7 minutes walking distance from the major sites in the city - this made for some fantastic night shot opportunities, which I am a big fan of. I also tried Turkish ice cream (twice in one day, mmm!) for the first time but the Turkish kebabs I was anticipating (durum doners, donairs, kebabs) are still better in Itaewon, Korea than anywhere else I've had them so that was a bit of a let down!
 

 Awesome lights at a shop inside of the Grand Bazaar - March 30, 2013

 Rainbow fountains with a view of the Blue Mosque at night - March 30, 2013

 So many men and boys (not many women if any) getting their fish on off of one of the bridges connecting the Old City to the New City on the European side of Istanbul - March 30, 2013

Upon arrival in Kayseri, we made our way to Cappadocia, which is an area famous for caves and its unique (and impressive) rock formations. Here, we stayed in an actual cave suite for two nights and explored all of the main attractions in the area: the Goreme Open-Air Museum, Kaymakli Underground City, Devrent Valley, Pasabagi Valley, Pidgeon Valley and we also visited a ceramic and pottery workshop. I was meant to go hot air ballooning the first day but it was cancelled because of the wind but luckily, this happened the second day and it was AMAZING! The sund didn't come up so the photos weren't as colourful and vibrant as what you see when you Google: "hot air ballooning Cappadocia" but it was still incredible...and my first time on a hot air balloon. It wasn't scary (and I am a bit afraid of heights) and our driver (I guess that's what you'd call him) was just awesome; as we came in for our landing, we were asking if we needed to get into landing position (on our knees in the basket, holding the handle straps inside) and as he shook his head 'no', he landed us perfectly on a truck bed for easy transport of the basket out of the area. I'm pretty sure this guy should be listed on Google as "most talented hot air balloon driver ever". Another great thing about this leg of our trip was renting a 4-wheeler (quad, ATV) and cruising around the valleys of the caves...I even got my mom to come along to see what we hoped would be an awesome sunset but the clouds ruined this for us. I was still impressed that she came along though.

Cappadocia Cave Suites in Göreme...a fantastic place to stay! - March 31, 2013

Evil eyes hanging from a tree to deter evil and bad luck in Cappadocia - April 1, 2013

Most amazing piece of hand-painted ceramics I'll never be able to afford! Firca Ceramics and Pottery, Avanos - April 1, 2013

Hot air balloons in flight, Cappadocia - April 2, 2013

View from 5500feet up...pure awesome! - April 2, 2013

After the hot air balloon awesomeness, it was time to commence a 12-hour bus ride to Pamukkale. The landscape of Turkey is pretty awesome, especially at this time of the year. The plains stretched on for miles with bright green grass, colourful blossoms on trees and mountains reaching high in the sky as well. My favourite part of driving through the countryside was seeing the shepherds with their flocks of sheep here, there and everywhere – it reminded me of driving through Tibet, which was an amazing experience as well. Along our travels, we stopped in Konya to see the Mausoleum of Melvana and the birthplace of Dervish. Konya and the places we stopped to see on this drive, were my least favourite bits of the trip so far, though. A big bonus today was the discovery of yogurt with honey and poppy seeds at one of our pit-stops…a definite must try!

We made it to our hotel at 9:30pm, wolfed down some food at the buffet (which was packed with tourists and the least enjoyable feast I have had yet) and then I got my swimsuit on and headed to the natural springs pool. It was fantastic.
 

Pamukkale (meaning ‘cotton castle’ because of its appearance) is famous for its hot springs and travertine terraces with pools that range in temperature from 35°C to 100°C the closer you get to the source of the water. Seeing this in person (and touching the water) was pretty darn cool…my only regret was not breaking out my swimsuit to chill in one of the pools, as there was no one enjoying them today! Pamukkale is also famous for being the location of the ancient Greco-Roman city, Heiropolis, so there are also lots of cool ruins to explore on your visit here; this was how we spent the morning of the fifth day of our Turkish Adventure. In the afternoon, we drove down south to see another ancient city, Aphrodisias, which is named after the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. This city was also neat and interesting and the best part was how quiet and tourist-free it was! Upon arrival near the site, we enjoyed a delicious lunch (our best yet!) and then proceeded to the bus parking lot for the ancient city. There, tractors awaited us with hitched carriages to transport us down to the site of the ruins – these guys were great with their smiles, service, suits and ties! After this, we were treated to a leather fashion show (oh yes!) which was kind of ridiculous and kind of successful at the same time because I left the place with a leather jacket that I love (and couldn’t afford)! Now, I’m in my hotel in Kuşadası listening to the snoring of my companions along with loud music and cheering from the club down the road. Kuşadası on the coast and we have a great seaview from our room that I’m looking forward to seeing in the daylight. We will explore Ephesus (another ancient city) tomorrow and then we depart for Athens, Greece on Friday.

Well played, Hieropolis! Way up on a mountain, on some amazing hot springs with a view of the valley below and mountains (you can't see cause of the haze) surrounding you in the distance! - April 3, 2013

The water flowing here was probably about 40degrees Celcius...and the pools are quiet slippery but pretty awesome in their own natural right! - April 3, 2013

The amphitheater in Hieropolis under construction - April 3, 2013

Our cute lunch time entertainment - this bird was even getting its groove on! - April 3, 2013

Our tour crew in our awesome tractor hauled chariot - April 3, 2013

Ignore how awesome (and original, not sure what this is)  I look and see how HUGE this amphitheater is! Aphrodisias - April 3, 2013

Temple of Aphrodite, Aphrodisias - April 3, 2013

So after all of that, should you come to Turkey? YES! I think it’s magnificent. When you think of the ancient Greek and Romans, all of those gods and goddesses, all of those famous movie-based battles throughout history, mythology, Mesopotamia and the beginning of civilization, you may not think of Turkey as being the setting for these things. Well, my friends, that’s so wrong. Although Rome, Athens and the rest of Greece certainly tell a tale of years and years ago, I feel that Turkey tells a forgotten story – with its ruins, not so overcrowded monuments and museums as well as the beautiful, natural landscape to boot. It’s also relatively cheaper to do things here (like eat) compared to Europe and the Euro. Another thing that I really love about Turkey is seeing how well loved cats and dogs are. There are strays everywhere but they’re friendly and healthy which is just heart-warming to see as an animal lover…which I am despite having just bought a (n awesome) new leather coat.